It’s hard to believe that ten years ago today, in the front of a small country church house, I was baptized to make it public that I had chose to follow Christ that past Sunday. I remember that day like it was yesterday. A young ten year old boy who didn’t know exactly what it meant to follow Christ. All I knew was that God created everything. He was good, and I was not. My sins had separated me from Him, and the only way to get right with Him was through Jesus who died for me. I wanted to submit to the lordship of Jesus even though I wasn’t exactly sure what that looked like in my life. Ten years later, I sit here examining my life and looking how I have followed Christ in my life, and how I’ve turned from Him at times.
Here’s my story from the start:
I didn’t grow up in house where my parents went to church every Sunday. I didn’t grow up in a house where we prayed or read Scripture. I only went to church when I stayed with my Papaw or during Vacation Bible Schools (VBS). I went to VBS just because I could play games, make crafts, and eat snacks. I never really knew what church was about. I just knew it was something a lot of old people did, and it had something to do with a guy named Jesus and crosses. I was pretty uneducated about anything else church-wise. At one of those VBSes, I received a tract (tells you how to be a Christian). This tract got read but put away. I never got what it was saying, but yet I kept it.
Go with me to third grade. I had quite a few good friends in third grade. That was the time where everyone got along with each other, and drama was limited to who stole who’s piece of cake at lunch. We lived and breathed basketball. We slept over at each others’ homes. Two of my best friends in third grade both went to the church where my Papaw went. A small country church named Lone Star Baptist. (No, it is not in Texas. It is in Arkansas. haha.) One friend was actually the pastor’s son. We had a lot of fun playing ball at recess and hanging outside of school. Their names are Taylor and Seth.
I sat with Taylor and Seth at pretty much every lunch. I remember sitting at a table one day when they looked at me and asked, “Ethan, are you saved?” I was confused and responded, “What do you mean?” They replied, “Are you saved? Yes or no?” I said, “Maybe, I don’t know. Tell me what you mean, and I will tell you.” That’s when they hit me blunt. “If you don’t know, you aren’t saved.” I was so appalled at their sureness of me not being saved. How could they be saved and me not? It didn’t make since. I didn’t like it. I wanted what they had.
I went home and told my mom that I wanted to be saved. She asked me if I knew what it meant. I said, “No, but Seth and Taylor are. I have to be like them.” She told me that wasn’t how it worked, and I needed to learn more. I knew it had to do with church, so I started going every time I could. I went and learned. About a year later, I found that tract that had been put away. I read that I had to know I was a sinner. I knew what that meant now! I read that I had to believe Jesus came to the Earth and died because of my sins. I did! It also said that I had to confess Him as Lord of my life. I was ready! I knelt down by my bed with my mom by my side on that remarkable Sunday in May 2004 and told Christ that I knew I had done wrong, I needed Him to forgive me, and that I wanted to acknowledge Him as Lord. That day I was filled with the Spirit that He promises to those who follow. My name was recorded in the Book of Life, and all of Heaven rejoiced. That next Sunday, I was baptized and joined Lone Star Baptist Church.
Over the next four years, I would grow and plateau. I learned a lot about how a Christian should act. I wouldn’t say that my love grew deeper for God each day. I did love God, but it was a very slow growth as to loving Him more. At the end of my eight grade year, I knew that God had called me to something bigger than just living the American Dream. As I processed what He was saying, I knew it had to be some role in the ministry. I talked to my pastor about it, and we weren’t sure as to which role He was calling me. I really thought it was going to be pastoral ministry, but today I know it is not. I preached my first sermon on September 13th, 2009 and was licensed into the ministry. I began getting calls to preach at other churches and youth events. I was so stoked about how God was using me. During my time preparing for messages, I would grow so much. As for any other time, I stayed pretty stale. I stepped out in leadership roles and tried to live my life to be an example to others my age. I wanted to impact them for the Gospel, but I was still pretty stagnant in my walk with Christ. I look back now and realize that my motives were split. I did want people to experience Christ deeper, but I also wanted to make myself known. I wanted to be known as that great Christian young person. That isn’t a bad thing, but when it motives you like it motivated me, it has become a god.
I planned to go to college at a Christian university and study theology as well as communications. God had other plans. He sent me an offer from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) that I could not turn down. After prayer, consideration, and guidance from my elders, I settled and came to UCA. I knew I wanted to find a church to get plugged into. I didn’t want to be a statistic of another youth leaving the church. I found my home at Second Baptist Church (2BC). Since joining 2BC, I have learned what discipleship really looks like. It isn’t a class. It’s living life with another believer just like Jesus did. It’s being held accountable and being pushed to grow. I saw Christ in so many new lights than I ever did before. I didn’t see following Christ as a list of don’ts any more like I used to. I saw it as freedom and grace. Following Christ meant falling for Christ. Each day I began falling in love with Christ more and more. I began to spend time with Him regularly. I began to see Him.
During the second semester of my freshman year, I began to get close to our BCM assistant campus minister. He was setting his life up to go overseas to serve as a missionary. We started grabbing coffee and sharing life. We talked missions A LOT. I had decided I would join my church in Asia during the summer after my sophomore year (This summer. I leave June 4th!). The more we talked, the more my heart began to burn for the people of the world. I looked up a Christmas program that would send me to Asia and brought him all of my options to see where he thought I would fit. He gave me another option that wasn’t even on the table at the time. I prayed long and hard about spending my Christmas break in Asia, and God said yes many times. I signed up and was set to go. I told him about feeling called to the ministry, but I wasn’t sure what area. I was feeling led towards college students, but I wasn’t sure if that was just because I was in college at the time. He responded with this question, “Did you know that most of the world’s college students are not in America?” Boom. My world turned upside down. Was God calling me to live overseas??? “Oh, no. Please no,” were my thoughts for many days to come. I wanted a nice house, a nice car, a small farm…the normal American things. The assistant campus minister challenged me to break away from thinking my calling was here in America and really process my calling with no restrictions.
As I did that, God spoke more and more to me. Following Christ isn’t about going to church. Yes, we should be a part of a local church where we can be equipped and sent. Following Christ isn’t about reading the Bible. Yes, we should spend time in God’s Word. That’s how He speaks. Following Christ isn’t about praying. Yes, we should talk to Him. Following Him isn’t a lists of dos and don’ts. Yes, we should control ourselves. It’s not about trips. It’s not about speakers. It’s not about buildings.
Most of you are probably like, “He’s lost his mind.” Paul says in Philippians 3, “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.”
Following Christ is knowing Christ. Spend time with God. Don’t just read and pray. Have a conversation with Him. If you just read about a friend, it doesn’t help you really know them. If you just send voicemails to a friend, it doesn’t help you know them. Fall in love with Christ. A lot of you are thinking right now that you do love Him. If you love Christ, you won’t close your mind off to things you don’t want to do. I never did want to spend my life overseas. I started falling more and more in love with Christ, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
If you lost everything today, what would your mood be like? Ponder on that. Could you lose everything and still follow Christ? I encourage you to read the book Follow Me by David Platt. When you read it, be prepared to be convicted.
I have chosen to really follow Christ…to let Him lead. I plan that in the near future, I will have a BBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, an MBA, and an M.Div in International Church Planting. That will then send me to the ends of the Earth to work in a business environment, but most importantly make disciples of those who have never heard the name of Christ. It’s a very unique approach to missions. One that can get me to places that traditional missionaries cannot go. It’s a journey that only Christ can take me on.
A decade after starting my journey following Christ, I truly have submitted to His Lordship. I look forward to Him using my life to grow His Kingdom. My dreams are His dreams. My life is His life. To live is Christ.
–Ethan
Ethan S. Reed 